UK / Ireland
UK - Dunedin makes 6x money on Letts Filofax sale
Dunedin Capital Partners, the UK mid-market private equity house, has announced that Letts Filofax Group, the market leading supplier of personal organisers and diaries, has been sold to Phoenix Equity Partners for £45m.
UK - Promethean buys Data Locator Group for £23.5m
Promethean Investments LLP has announced the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Data Locator Group Ltd by an acquisition vehicle, Data Locator Holdings Ltd, for £23.5m. Promethean provided the equity and subordinated debt funding totalling...
FINLAND/UK - VC-backed Ark Therapeutics announces preliminary results
Ark Therapeutics Group Plc has today announced its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2005. In 2005, it was awarded a EUR 2.2m grant by Finnish government to extend gene medicine manufacturing facilities. The company's highlights also...
UK - Rutland Trust reports 2005 results
The Rutland Trust has recently announced its results for 2005. The consolidated net asset value per share at 31 December 2005 was 62.2p (1 January 2005: 50.8p), based on net assets of £121.8m (1 January 2005: £99.6m). The consolidated results showed...
UK - Blackstone makes £205.4m offer for Center Parcs
Forest Bidco, the acquisition vehicle formed by Blackstone, has made a 80 pence-a-share offer for Center Parcs, the short break holiday village operator.
UK - Liverpool healthcare firm raises £750k funding
A Liverpool pharmaceutical company is expanding with a finance package totalling over £750,000 which includes support from Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF).
UK - SVG posts 19.6% increase in NAV
SVG Capital has unveiled its unaudited preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2005. The portolio has posted strong results driven by significant distributions and write-ups including a 19.6% increase in fully diluted net assets per share to...
UK - Micrima secures £475k from VC syndicate
Micrima Ltd, a spin-out from Bristol University, has received a £150,000 investment from NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts). This is part of a funding round worth £475,000 with co-investment from private investors and...
UK - KCL firm makes new add-on acquisition
Kleinwort Capital Ltd has announced today that portfolio company Healthcare Homes Group Ltd (HHG) has acquired PriMed Group, a privately-owned care and nursing home group based in Suffolk. The acquisition is the fourth successful acquisition made by HHG...
UK - Curvey becomes partner at Duke Street
Duke Street Capital, the independent private equity fund manager, has announced the promotion of Colin Curvey to partner. Curvey joined Duke Street in 1999 and focuses on the consumer goods and insurance sectors.
UK - Bank of Scotland invests in McCurrach UK
Bank of Scotland Corporate has announced that its integrated finance team has taken a minority stake in Glasgow-based McCurrach UK Ltd.
UK - 3i invests in Israeli technology fund
3i has invested $20m in Giza Venture Capital’s fourth fund. This investment extends 3i’s global venture capital activities to Israel, where it will invest primarily alongside Giza, in Israeli companies with highly disruptive technologies.
UK - BancBoston makes 15x money on Aquila exit
BancBoston Capital has notched up a 15.2x net return on the sale of its shares in the UK-based Aquila Group Holdings Ltd. This tops a stellar run of exits for the firm. Returns on BancBoston Capital’s recent transactions include 6.5x on the sale of...
UK - Kleinwort announces two new investors
Kleinwort Capital Limited has announced that it has two new investors on board – Swiss-based Partners Group and F&C Private Equity Trust Plc.
UK - Is BT a £20bn private equity target?
According to press reports, BT is being examined as a potential bid target by a number of global private equity firms in a move that could value the telecoms group at a minimum of £20bn.
UK - Cobbetts attracts Pinsent Masons’ PE team
Cobbetts corporate team has recently attracted more private equity lawyers from Pinsent Masons. Partner Paul Johnson, Nicola Frost, Vicky Zivkovich and Paul Kelly have made the move, following Cobbetts’ recent appointment of partner Sean Fitzgerald,...
UK - North West Equity Fund backs local paper
North West Equity Fund has led a syndicate of institutional investors, including the North West Seed Fund, the management team and twelve private investors in providing a £250,000 round of funding for Jashousehard Ltd, owner of The North West Enquirer.
UK - BOSIF backs secondary buyout of Mono Global
Bank of Scotland Corporate has announced that through its integrated finance team, it has backed the management of Glasgow-based Mono Global Ltd in the secondary buyout of the company. The deal sees 3i Group Plc achieve a successful exit from the company...
UK - EPIC acquires Bighead Bonding Fasteners
EPIC has announced that Brian Giddings and Robin Bromley-Martin have acquired Bighead Bonding Fasteners.
UK - Core backs MBO of Blanc Brasseries
Core Growth Capital, the generalist private equity partnership and manager of Core VCT I, II and III, has backed the £6m equity raising in the £10m MBO of Blanc Brasseries, the French brasserie chain founded by Raymond Blanc and managed by Loch Fyne...
UK - PanOpSys Ltd receives $5.25m Quester funding
PanOpSys, a medical diagnostics company focusing on rapid quantitative detection of disease markers, has announced that it has raised $5.25m in a Series A round of funding from Quester.
UK - Baker Tilly expands in Scotland
Stuart McCallum has joined Baker Tilly as a director within the corporate finance team based in Glasgow. He brings with him over ten years of corporate finance and business advisory across a diverse range of industries.
UK - Barclays Private Equity exits Recruitment Solutions Group
Barclays Private Equity has sold its investment in Recruitment Solutions Group for £18.5m to Hays Plc, the global leader in specialist recruitment and HR services.
UK - LDC appoints Farazmand to head London team
LDC has appointed Tim Farazmand as London regional director to lead its seven-strong team based in Old Bond Street.